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138
*1 ran fait and for the Argus,
Liberty. K qju a l i t y .
In the name of the French Republic.
AAROC LA M A TIO N.
Lcger Fleicite Sonthonax, Julien Ray
mond, Mare Antoine Alexia Giraud,
Pierre George Leblanc, and Philippe-
Rose Romine, Commiffarics delegat
ed by the French government to the
Windward Illands,
To all the citizens of the colony, and
to all those who compose the land and
sea forces deftiued for its defence.
Citizens,
Ah TER so many dorms and critical
emergencies, inseparable concomitants
of a revolution, France enjoys at lad a
constitution worthy of a people who
know how to value liberty.
Already under a truly republican go
vernment, the French people begin to
relt from their long and arduous toil,
and to enjoy the happy effects of the
liberty which they have attained.—
Already the government directs its so
licitudes towards those objects which
arc to preserve the rights and increase
the happiness of the people.
Firmly resolved to cause the consti
tution to be executed, the executive di
rectory is conltantly employed in fear oil
ing out means to have it citablifhed in
all parts of the republic.
That conititution dates, article 156,
That the legiflativc body can authorife
the directory to fend to all the French
colonies, as the emergency of the cale
may require, one oF more particular
agents, whom it will appoint for a lim
ited time.
Those agents are to exercise the fame
functions as the directory, and be under
its orders.
The sixth article of the conditution
Rates, That the French colonics are in
ieparatc parts of the republic, and sub
mitted to the fame conditutional law.
It is particularly for the execution of
that article, that we have received from
the government the honorable million
intruded to us ; and, at the fame time,
to let you know all the means you ought
to employ to preserve liberty and equali
ty, which are die fundamental laws ol
that conditution.
You will undoubtedly believe your
old and fmccre friends : undoubted!}’
you will litten to philantrophifts, who
have spontaneously devoted themselves
toalmoft certain death, in vin
dicate your rights. Bound by the fame
principles, they propose to themselves
only one end—that of leading you to
true happiness, in preserving among you
liberty and equality.
Citizen's, rally at the voice of the
delegates of the republic, since it is in
her.name, and for her deareit interells,
that they arc going to address you.
The ancient government of the colon
ies had diitinguilhed three different
dalles-—the whites, the colored people,
and the Haves. To those different
claflet, now united and honored with
the name of F reach citizens, we are go
ing to speak alternately. Wc shall fir It
address that portion of the people of the
colony, which has molt fuffered under
the tyrannic order which has been a
bolished, and we (hall fay to them—
the republican constitution which
the French nation lias just adopted, you
have recovered your primitive rights;
but you must know the proper means
to preserve them without trouble, and
to transmit them without interruption
to your remotest posterity. Those
ships, rhe warriors whom they bring to
you—all thole formidable preparations
are deligned againlt the Englilh, who
are the moft cruel enemies of your lib
trfy. • 1 hey dare to indulge the hope
°u l ram n § ne . w chains for you. See
those blod-thirfty tygers, bending Hill
your brethren under their homicidal
whips. Vve cannot fufter any longer so
difinal an objed : join the forces which
France lends to you—expel from the
territory of the French republic, those
tyrants of mankind ; purluc them even
to their haunts, and destroy the last of
them ! \\ hat! is it not incumbent upon
you to revenge your brethren whom
they keep fettered in the surrounding
illands ? Yes, citizens, every thing
ought to impress you with an implaca
ble hatred for those tyrants, whose molt
lucrative trade is of reducing y-ou to
llavcry, niilery, and death. What can
withhold, your vengeance ? Rush on
V lls impious race—make it disappear
rom that facrcd fpot,’ which, too long,
.5“ been # the theatre of iu crimes and
depredations!”
Those means, citizens, you lhall find
an labor and mftrudion, and in the prac
rice of moral and civil virtues.
Labor and inilrudion, citizens, are
Columbian iHttfeum, &c.
neceflary to the preservation of the peo
ple, and the constitution imposes them
as a duty upon all citizens.—The 1 -th
article of the second title, contains these
words : “ Young men cannot he in
fciibed, in the civic register, if they do
not prove that they can read, write, and
follow a mechanical branch of business.”
That clause, citizens, can and ought to
take place only agreeably to the consti
tution, alter the firit day of the twelfth
year of the republic.
The mutual operations of agriculture
belongs to the mechanic arts.
Yes; labor, and agriculture particu
larly, is absolutely r.eccflary to him who
wilhes to preserve his right, and enjoy
liis liberty. Through labor we pro
cure the necessary tilings to our exift
cnce and enjoyment; through labor on
ly we can preserve our liberty. Woe
to the people who neglect labor ; luch
people cannot fail becoming Haves to an
active nation. Never forget that the
Lnglifn, your neighbors, are very ac
tive, and that they may rivet your chains
once more, should you ever forlake la
bor—And has experience not too long
taught you that truth ? Had your an
cestors, the inhabitants of Africa, de
voted themselves to the culture of their
Iruitfullands, they moft alluredly would
not have debased themselves by recipro
cal bioody wars, of which greedv Eu
ropeans have availed themselves to re
duce them to the moft intolerable and
degrading ilavcry. What remains for
you to do, in order to avoid all the mis
fortunes which are inseparable concomi
tants of idlenels ? Nothing but to de
vote yourselves to the culture of the
rich productions of the colony you in
habit! Many ofyou have been to France
they will tell you, tnat the people are
there conltantly occupied at ufeful la
bors, and agriculture in particular.
Imitate that active people who adopts
you as brethren, and you will eitablifh
ov that means, a trade of exchange with
chem, which will cement and itrengthen
your brotherly relations.
InltruCtion is as uie.ul to you as la
bor ; by it you will transmit your rights
your children ; by it you will learn
fulfil the duty of good citizens :
anally, by imtruction you will attain
that degree of morality, which distin
guishes the civilized from the savage
.nan, the hoaeft ironi the perverse citi
zen.
The government will omit nothing
to attain an object so intereftin* and so
worthy of its solicitude. Public schools
will be eiiabiilhcd throughout all the
colonies; your children ihail there re
ceive inftruCtion, imbibe a taste for la
bor and morals which are to accompliih
their full regeneration, dhe republic
wdl extend tarther her cares tor your
children, lor lhe wilhes that a certain
number of those who lhaii have produced
a greater diJpofitionand zeal for inftruc
cron to be feat to France, with the con
lent ot their parents, there to lfudy in a
more perfect degree thele sciences or
arts to which they may have Ihewn a
more decided inclination.
The fame resources are likewise of
lercd to the children of the whites and
of the colored people; for the primary
schools, which will be eltablilhed, will
be open to all individuals born in the
colonies of whatever color thev may be.
ALL MEN ARE EQUAL IN
RIGHTS.
An irreproachable property is con
sidered by the constitution as so ufcful
to citizens, tnat when they are punilhed
by law, they lole for a while their po
litical rights. It is therefore neceflary
that the man who wilhes to prelerve his
liberty without interruption, lhould be
bred up to labor, inftruCtion, and morals,
which are absolutely neceflary to the
preservation of asocial Hate. From
what you have just now read, you will
no more doubt of the intention of the
government to maintain you in the in
alienable rights of your liberty.
1 o you, citizens, whom a barbarous
custom had made formerly proprietors
of Haves, we shall oblerve, that In con
lequence only of the moft ftrangc subver
sion of what is known under the name of
justice and humanity, the moft sacred
rights ot man, had been forfaken in the
touner order ot things which allowed
men to be reduced to the moft infuffera
bie and abject ilavery ; we shall tell you
that a itate so contrary to nature, though
apparently favorable to your inicreics
was of too violent a nature to last long.
How could the malter (hake off the
thought ot the dangers with which he
was incefla.itly threatened ? Does not
the experience ot ages and nations, trans
mitted by history, informs us, that ty
ranny has always fallen a victim to its
own crimes ? Undoubtedly, fix hundred
thousand Haves unjuttly and cruelly tor
tured, in almost every iuftant in their
fives, could not afford a great degree of
security to the fmatl number of their
mailers. Surrounded with foes, tor
mented with mistrust and fear, what
could be the enjoyments of inafters ?
They were moft assuredly dillurbed by
the moft cruel enormities. Add to this
the continual fear they labored under to
fee themselves utterly ruined by that
morality which is the inevitable conse
quence of the manner in which the
blacks were treated in the colonies.
Inltead of the violent state in which
lingered the late proprietors of Haves,
liberty and equality which flow from
the conititution, offer to them nothing
but true enjoyments, and perfect secu
rity to their lives and fortunes. Sur
rounded with free and peaceable hus
bandmen, who will cultivate the lands
for a just salary, the owner will dread
no more the fury of the revolted Have ;
hf will live among those men as among
his children ; he wtllailift their activity
with his knowledge. Their posterity
will no mors decline, but rather increase
in proportion to the foftering cares paid
them ; and that increase of population,
as it will give more hands to agriculture,
will improve more and more the estate
of the owner, and procure him enjoy
ments more fvveer, and gratifications
more real, as they will not be acquired
at the expencc of the happiness, as they
w ill not be the lhameful price of the
tears and blood of their equals. As, by
the new fyltem, the proprietor of lands
will dread no more those sadden chang
es of fortune, he will be able to encreafe
itill more his enjoyments, and give a
greater salubrity to his poffellions, by
those rural ornaments which have made
France so delicious a spot. The land
holder in the colonies will also enjoy all
that advantage over the inhabitants of
France, which is to be derived from a
beautiful climate, and the high price of
the natural productions of the country.
The republic, therefore, has a right
to expect that the misfortunes which
have attended the revolution will have
the happy effect of making the planters
wiser than they were ; the republic has
a right to expect, that, recovered from
their errors, occaHoned by a long habit,
they will refurne principles of eternal
justice; that,'influenced by the love of
their country, they will concur with
all their might in the reitoration of the
order and prosperity of the colony, and
that they will aliiit, with as much eag
erness as zeal, the wife aird humane
views of the government,
In addrefiing those formerly diftin
guilhed as whites and people of color
without pofleffions, we would fay to
them, that in a free state, all hands ought
to be employed ; that every one ougnt
to make a choice of a kind of laoor
which, in concurring to the general wel
fare, would procifre to the laborer not
only existence, but the conveniencics of
life ; that the colonial fyltem being al
tered they mijl no more tfablijh their
hopes of fortune on SLAVER Y for it is
FOREVER ABOLISHE D on the I
whole territory of France. Let every
one therefore make the belt of his in
dultry, devote himfelf to agriculture.
Let not any ill-founded ftiame keep him
in activity, which is as dangerous to
himfelf as it is ruinous to the common
weal. Let him be convinced, that no
occupation debases man ; let him know,
that with the wisest people of antiquity,
agriculture was considered as the firfl of
ail occupations. Let them therefore
renounce that itate of vagrancy which
the laws of the republic will punifli.
In fine, we would repeat to them,
that, as all the inhabitants of the colony,
from this instant, will form but one
cla!s, every citizen will have the fame
rights, and enjoy the fame advantages;
and that THE REPUBLIC ESTAB
LISHES NO OTHER DISTINC
TIONS AMONG MEN, THAN
THOSE OF VIRTUE AND
VICE, OF TALENTS AND IG
NORANCE.
In the name of the republic—in the
name ot humanity—in the name of the
sacred love ot country, wc invite all
citizens to concur with us in the reitora
tion of order and agriculture :—We in
vite them to forget their refpettivc
wrongs and quarrels to make it now
their folc bufmefs to expel the enemies
of the republic, from the territory they
have invaded, and soon to repair the
evils and devastations which have been
occalioned by hatred, palfion and civil
war.
Conftitutcd authorities will be ef
tablilhed throughout the whole colony,
agreeably to the constitution ; every
thing will be disposed to promote the
good of the people :—We invite them,
therefore, to inform us of all reclama
tions they have to make, and the means
of improvement which they may think
| moft likely to contribute to the public
happiness. They will find, in the 11.
gates of the republic, the greatest eav.
ernefs to favor their efforts, and to a
dopt, with unbounded zeal, whatever
may encreafe the fafety and prosperity
of the colony. t •/
The proclamation is to be printed
publiiFed, and parted up, wherever ft
will be neceflary, mferibed in the reeif
ters of administrative and judiciary bod
ies ; lent to the major-generals, the com
manders of camps and polls, and the
commanders ot the fliips of the Repub.
lie*
Done a t the Cape, the 25th Floreal
[May 15] the fourth year of the’
French republic; one and indivi
Able.
The president of the commission
ru / o s° nt honax.
‘1 he general Secretary,
pascal.
PARIS, April 16.
General Pichegru, having definitely
declined the Embassy to Sweden, and
being willing to enjoy the charms of re
pole in the bosom of his family at Ar
boia,the place ofhis nativity,the govern
ment is to fend to Stockholm a fimplc
Charge des Affaires, who is not known
m a Diploma tic character. He is order*,
cd to depart in two days.
Gen. Moreau sets off’ to-morrow, to
take command of the army of the Rhine,
If Eclair contains the letter of the
Spanish minister, the prince of Peace
announcing the reitoration ol'all the pro
perty of French fubjeds in .Spain, which
had been fequeltered during the war.
LON D O N, April 12.
Rear admiral Harvey arrived yeiier
day in town, and waited upon Earl
Spencer at the admiralty. ‘I his officer
is expeded to receive immediate ordersi
to fail in the Prince of 9S guns, toaffume
the naval command of the Barbadoes na
tion.
April 13. <
1 he vvar, it is now decided, is to be
carried on ior another year. The min
iiter has declined all parliamentary con
troversy on the fubjedf. He is to lay
the Hate papers, as they are termed, on
the tables of bothhoufes. Hepreferves
an affected silence, left he should liaftea
the enquiry, “for whose advantage it
the war to be carried on ?”
It is evident, however, that we are
now to purfueour exertions for the ex
clusive advantage of the emperor. The
means of this country, drained as they
have been, arc to be further exhausted,
left the exnperor should lose the Nether
lands. Ihis is the principal object
which remains for contest. The foil
has been moistened too dreadfully with
British blood—and it is further destined
to the abyss of our last resources.
What are the imperial Wants, or the
imperial losses, to the wretched poor of
this country ?
Pretended Negotiation for Peace.
The state papers from Balle, will be
iufficient to convince any man of com
mon sagacity how far our minillers
were sincere, or otherwise, in affedting
toopiena treaty. The negociation is
now said to be broken off, because the
I’ rench Directory refufe to alienate any
portion of conquered countries which
have been declared an integral part ot
the Republic. The countries thus in
corporated are, Nice and Savoy, and a
part of the Austrian Netherlands.
Now the fadt is, that our Minillers,
before they pretended to open a negoti
ation, knew, that by the conditutional
act, the Directory could not alienate any
part of these territories 1 and therefore,
in breaking off the treaty upon this pre
text, they evince in the cleared manner,
their insincerity in pretending to com
mence it, since it is plain they determin
ed to infill upon what was impofnble to
be granted.
‘l'here is another fact, which we have
from the best authority, and for which
on that account we can pledge ourselves,
and that is, that the Emperor is extreme
ly indifferent with refped to the reite
ration of the part of the Netherlands in
corporated with France, and would by
glad of any indemnity in lieu of it. This
indemnification might easily have been
obtained by arrangements in Germany
orelfewhere, as he is really more intent
on keeping his share of Poland, which
is to him a more valuable acquifitior*,
than on recovering the uncertain pofief
fions of these turbulent and difaffeftccl
provinces. Nay, we are fatisfied that
he would give them up, if Great-Britain
would resign his obligation to pay tiir
interest of the late loan of four millions*
(which is but of little fold value to os,
from the uncertainty of the tenure)
we might be more than indemnified of
concessions in other parts, As
No - 3.1.